The price of pH calibration fluid marketed for the aquarium trade is ridiculous! Like many fellow reefers, I frequently run across some items that may be profitable for me to support my reef hobby (addiction), yet can still be offered to others at a fraction of the cost of buying form the LFS or even online stores.
I have the opportunity to get some hospital grade pH calibration fluid in 4.0, 7.0 and 10.0 with +/- 0.01 accuracy (same as offered by Coral Life). I am trying to see who would be interested in this product. The products come in 500ml bottles and would be sold for around $22.00 per bottle. The Coral Life product can be found in Online stores for $8.00 for 120ml (4oz.)
The other option I have is to buy larger 1 gallon jugs of the fluid and transfer it to smaller 4oz. bottles. I would probably sell a set of 3 solutions for $18.00, but there is much more work involved, not to mention the risk of contamination. Although I would use proper techniques, it would be easy for someone to be skeptical of the purity, especially if thier meter was not working properly, or if it was really way-out of cal.
It should also be noted that pH meters should be calibrated weekly. This is often not done in the aquarium trade b/c the fluid is expensive. Many hobbiest fall into the trap of trying to reuse or save their calibration fluid, which leads to an inaccurate meter. Even worse than that, I have heard of a few people pouring their tested (contaminated) solution back into the stock vial. After several months, they wonder why the stock solution turned colors and went foul.
Again, what I am trying to offer is a better way to have properly functioning, reliable equipment at a reasonable cost. I use this same calibration fluid in the hospital I work at. We test our meters daily and I have never seen this fluid go bad. All bottles are properly labeled and have expiration dates (about three years). Please let me know if you would support this idea or if you see some potential drawbacks. Is the 500ml bottles too large? Too costly?
Cheers,
Scott
I have the opportunity to get some hospital grade pH calibration fluid in 4.0, 7.0 and 10.0 with +/- 0.01 accuracy (same as offered by Coral Life). I am trying to see who would be interested in this product. The products come in 500ml bottles and would be sold for around $22.00 per bottle. The Coral Life product can be found in Online stores for $8.00 for 120ml (4oz.)
The other option I have is to buy larger 1 gallon jugs of the fluid and transfer it to smaller 4oz. bottles. I would probably sell a set of 3 solutions for $18.00, but there is much more work involved, not to mention the risk of contamination. Although I would use proper techniques, it would be easy for someone to be skeptical of the purity, especially if thier meter was not working properly, or if it was really way-out of cal.
It should also be noted that pH meters should be calibrated weekly. This is often not done in the aquarium trade b/c the fluid is expensive. Many hobbiest fall into the trap of trying to reuse or save their calibration fluid, which leads to an inaccurate meter. Even worse than that, I have heard of a few people pouring their tested (contaminated) solution back into the stock vial. After several months, they wonder why the stock solution turned colors and went foul.
Again, what I am trying to offer is a better way to have properly functioning, reliable equipment at a reasonable cost. I use this same calibration fluid in the hospital I work at. We test our meters daily and I have never seen this fluid go bad. All bottles are properly labeled and have expiration dates (about three years). Please let me know if you would support this idea or if you see some potential drawbacks. Is the 500ml bottles too large? Too costly?
Cheers,
Scott
